Introducing... KindMatters. A terrific little team who champion and celebrate acts of kindness, great and small.

Kind is a word that usually makes us think of lovely, soft, gentle people, but kindness often requires great courage and strength too! It is a powerful force that can stop people in their tracks and change how they see the world. Check out these ordinary girls who are impacting their communities (and beyond) with this rad sort of kindness.

Rebecca

Gen Z from New South Wales

I came from a dysfunctional family and experienced much verbal and sexual abuse. As a result I felt I didn’t have any identity and school was a place where I couldn’t be myself because I could not share what was really going on. But through a program called Shine, in Darwin, I was able to find out just who I was. I got to find out that I was loved and cared for and I was worth something.

Now I go to the local high schools and run a program I started in order to let the girls know that they are valuable, beautiful and have purpose. We have been doing practical tasks to help them show love to other people as well. Last semester, for example, we wrote a card for a girl who has a disability in the school and the girls wrote about why they loved her.

Ruth

Gen Y from Thai Burma

I’ve always had a heart for working with young people and communities; and social justice. During a short term missions trip, I came to realise that there are hundreds of thousands of refugees who are displaced along the Thai-Burma border. Without identification, legal protection or education, they’re very much at risk of being abused, exploited, and becoming victims of trafficking. This is a multi-faceted issue that’s fast becoming the highest earning industry in the world. Can you believe that? We’re talking about the trade and enslavement of people.

Our team, Global Alms Inc., has been based along the border for a bit over 3 years now, and it’s an honour to be able to be the ones who connect with the local families in order to find out what their support needs may be. Our programs are based on education and training, health, and self-sustainability. The problems may seem overwhelming sometimes, but there’s no doubt that we’re committed to continue to help communities break past their circumstances in order to reach their full potential.

Global Alms Incorporated is an Australian not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the elimination of trafficking, sexual exploitation and physical abuse of men, women and children in the area of Thai Burma